The Ritz Hotel Apartments was touted as Canton’s only exclusive hotel apartment building when it opened in the late 1920s.
The four-story, 30-unit building on the northwest corner of Sixth Street and High Avenue NW boasted soundproof and fireproof rooms, antique Spanish wall designs and colors, high-end fabrics, draperies and furnishings and the latest technology, including Frigidaires and telephone service.
But for at least the past 30 years, the building has been a haven for drugs, prostitution and squatters. In 2006, its living conditions had become so deplorable that a judge sentenced the landlord to live there for 30 days as punishment.
Recent attempts to revitalize the vacant building at 705 Sixth St. NW never materialized.
Now, the Ritz may get a new owner: The city of Canton.
Canton Economic Development Director Peter Zahirsky said the Ritz’s current owner wants to give Canton the property for free.
“The company who owns it is tied to the original lender of the (unsuccessful redevelopment) project,” he said. “They are basically looking to get it off their books.”
Canton City Council is expected to vote at its Sept. 8 meeting whether to accept the 0.14-acre parcel from PRE 15632 Euclid LLC.
An attorney representing the property owner did not return a message seeking comment.
What would Canton do with the Ritz property?
The former Ritz Hotel Apartments at 705 Sixth St. NW in Canton has been vacant for decades. Property owner, PRE 15632 Euclid LLC, now wants to give the property to the city of Canton at no cost.
If council votes to accept the property, Zahirsky said the city would first evaluate the building to see whether it’s salvageable and can be used by local nonprofits for housing. He’s not optimistic.
“Most likely we’re going to have to take it down because it’s too far gone,” he said.
Mayor William V. Sherer said an issue plaguing the redevelopment of the apartment complex is that no adjacent parking exists because people used the trolley or walked during the Ritz’s heyday. City regulations now require multifamily buildings to provide 1.5 parking spaces per dwelling unit.
“We can’t afford to lose any more housing,” Sherer said. “Obviously, if we have to tear it down because we can’t use it for housing … we’re going to build houses on top of it. Probably only going to be one or two.”
He estimated the demolition cost to be roughly $70,000.
“We just don’t want to see that building sit there for another 10 to 15 years,” he said.
Why hasn’t the Ritz been redeveloped?
The former Ritz Hotel Apartments at 705 Sixth St. NW in Canton has been vacant for decades. Property owner, PRE 15632 Euclid LLC, now wants to give the property to the city of Canton at no cost.
Stark County court records show that a Florida-based developer obtained a $2 million loan in 2020 to convert the building into 15 apartment units. The developer, who purchased the property for $150,000, demolished some of the interior walls and began repairing the foundation, masonry, plumbing and flooring. But the renovation halted in 2021 amid a dispute between the developer and his lender over what work was eligible for funding under the loan, records show.
The lender, Pride Funding LLC, foreclosed on the property in 2023 and then purchased it at a sheriff’s auction for $60,000. Pride Funding then transferred the property to PRE 15632 Euclid LLC, which it also owns.
A 2023 appraisal by Pride Funding estimated the property’s value at $90,000. The Stark County Auditor’s Office lists the building’s value at $159,500 and the land’s value at $10,200.
A website advertising the property for sale in 2024 described the brick building as having “good bones and structure” but in need of renovation.
Dutton Auctions posted a video online in February 2024 that showed plywood covering the doors and various windows, some windows left open and deteriorated sections of the exterior. Inside, many interior walls have been removed, leaving the wooden vertical wall studs and plumbing and electrical wiring exposed, the video shows.
Canton building inspectors, who have cited the building’s owners numerous times over the years, found more than 20 code violations in 2024. The violation notice, still tacked to the plywood on the side of the building, states the structure is unfit for human occupancy.
The violations range from failing to properly secure the building to not maintaining or repairing various exterior and interior building components to not properly connecting to the sewer system.
Reach staff writer Kelli Weir at kweir@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton may take over Ritz Hotel Apartments